1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tables used in the chiropractic treatment of patients and in particular to such a table provided with an electrically driven cam mechanism which applies a predetermined flexion therapy sequence to a patient which has been found useful in performing certain treatments for lumbar disc protrusions and similar low back conditions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The treatment of various maladies of the human body by means of the manipulation of the muscles and skeletal structure thereof, commonly referred to as chiropracty, has become a widely used and accepted art. Various apparatus have been developed to facilitate this type of treatment, one such apparatus being an articulated treatment table. Such tables, such as, for example, the "Chiro-Manis Table" manufactured by the Chiro-Manis Company, assignee of the present invention, typically include an elongated, padded platform or table on which a patient can recline. The table is further provided with means for securing the patient's extremities, e.g., the patient's ankles and/or wrists and includes an articulated lower or anterior body section which underlies the patient adjacent the lower back. The table provides means for tiltably raising and lowering (extension and flexion, respectively), laterally bending, rotating and extending the anterior body section with respect to the upper body or support section. Such treatment tables have proven to be valuable aids to the practitioner of chiropractic medicine and various treatments for patients suffering from spinal and related nerve, muscle and skeletal maladies have been devised using such tables. One such treatment, developed by James M. Cox, D.C., is used for the external, non-surgical treatment of lumbar disc protrusions. While it is outside of the scope of this patent disclosure to discuss this treatment procedure in detail, it should be observed that the treatment requires flexion of a patient's spine coupled with simultaneous manual manipulation of a protruding disc. In performing this procedure, the magnitude, speed, and time duration of the flexion cycles is crucial, and variations from prescribed parameters can significantly reduce the effectiveness of this treatment. Heretofore, the magnitude, speed, and time of the flexion have been manually controlled by a practitioner utilizing his own skill and judgment. Simultaneously, a practitioner must carefully manipulate the protruding disc to effect the desired treatment and result. This in turn requires that either the practitioner utilize one hand to produce the flexion of the table or carefully coordinate manipulation of the table by the practitioner's foot while manipulating the spinal disc by hand. Such procedures are difficult and may reduce the practitioner's effectiveness when performing this procedure.
It is therefore desirable to provide a chiropractic treatment table which is provided with an automatic yet totally reliable mechanism which will perform the cyclical flexion of the patient's spine within predetermined parameters thereby allowing the practitioner to devote his full attention to the manual manipulation of the protruding lumbar disc.